The Scottish Government

The Working Group recommended that:

• In 2005, use should be made of existing surveys, particularly the EFS, to monitor progress towards the Scottish Dietary Targets.

• Where data is lacking, as is the case for the targets for sodium and non-milk extrinsic sugars in children, interim studies may need to be set up.

The Working Group recommended that:

• Future monitoring should take place at least every 3-5 years to provide data on ongoing progress towards the Scottish Dietary Targets.

• When considering a methodology for monitoring progress towards the Scottish Dietary Targets, account should be taken of its appropriateness and limitations.

• The EFS should continue to be used to monitor progress towards the Scottish Dietary Targets beyond 2005.

• Increasing the number of Scottish participants in any future UK nutritional surveillance programme, including the new NDNS programme, should be considered so that the data generated is representative for Scotland.

• When planning any future nutritional surveillance programme to monitor progress towards the Scottish Dietary Targets, the possibility of increasing sample sizes for sub groups such as lower socio-economic groups, the elderly and ethnic minority groups should be considered.

• The views expressed in this report should form the basis of decisions when commissioning the Scottish Health Survey.

• The possibility of replacing the existing eating habits module of the SHS with a comprehensive FFQ should be considered for monitoring progress towards the Scottish Dietary Targets.

• The possibility of setting up a new stand alone dietary survey, using the framework of the Irish SLAN, should be considered for Scotland.

• Possible ways of increasing survey response rates need to be explored. A response rate of at least 60% should be the aim when employing weighed intake methodology while higher response rates should be expected from surveys in which the respondent burden is less.

• Information from certain Scottish surveys, while not sufficiently robust for monitoring progress towards the Scottish Dietary Targets, should be used to provide proxy indicators of dietary intake and contextual insights related to the monitoring process. These include, 'The Scottish Health Education Population Survey', 'The Health and Health Behaviours of Scottish School Children', 'The Scottish School Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey' and the 'Longitudinal Survey of Children'.

• The possibility of merging the Local Health and Lifestyle Surveys and the SHS should be investigated as a better use of resources. If the SHS and Local Health and Lifestyle surveys are not merged, the dietary questions in Local Health and Lifestyle Surveys should be standardised between NHS Boards to provide information for monitoring progress towards the Scottish Dietary Targets.

• Market research data might be considered an appropriate methodology where information regarding the consumption of specific foods is required.

• The measurement of risk markers such as blood lipids, blood pressure, obesity in children, growth and development of children, dental caries and behaviour related to dietary patterns should be considered when planning any future nutritional surveillance in Scotland.

• The inclusion of information about lifestyle choices, such as physical activity and smoking, should be considered when planning any future nutritional surveillance in Scotland.

• Data collected in relation to Scottish Dietary Targets should be contributed to the nutrition component of the European Community Health Indicators (ECHI) framework.

The Working Group recommended that:

Any future monitoring tool should be capable of:

• Measuring the intake of, not only, fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables, but also of canned and dried products as well as fruit juice.

• Recording information about the type of bread consumed.

• Recording information about the type of breakfast cereal consumed.

• Measuring the consumption of fresh and canned oil rich fish and white fish separately. In addition, canned tuna should be measured separately from oil-rich fish, as the oil present in fresh tuna is lost during the canning process (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, 1998).

• Measuring the percentage energy from fat.

• Measuring total fat intake to ensure it is at an appropriate level.

• Measuring the percentage energy from NME sugars.

• Measuring total NME sugar to ensure that it is at an appropriate level.

• Measuring starch and NSP intakes separately.

• In addition, the use of a spot urine methodology should be considered for future surveys of salt intake in the Scottish population.